


We're a Red Vines Family

by IamIronfan



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Halloween, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 00:03:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21234800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamIronfan/pseuds/IamIronfan
Summary: “Happy Hallo-”His sentence was cut short as he opened the door to reveal a group of kids waiting eagerly in their costumes. He forced a smile and stiffly held out the candy bowl to them, watching as all their small hands struggled to grab a piece at once.In the very center was a kid in an Iron Man costume. It was very well made admittedly, Uncle Ben would have been proud of it. A pit was opening in his stomach as he watched the kid in the costume triumphantly grab a piece of candy and turn to walk back to his mother.Suddenly he was back on the field, and Tony was on the ground half charred as he lay dying. There was a ringing in his ears and Aunt May was at his side with a firm hand on his shoulder, pulling him back inside.





	We're a Red Vines Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I've recently enrolled in school again so my free time to write has been severely limited. I had this idea though and really wanted to write a little something for Halloween. I would have liked to clean it up a bit more but I know this was my only free night to get it posted before Halloween. Hope you have the spookiest of Halloweens! <3

“Okay Peter, if you’re going to stay home and mope around all night then you’re going to at least help pass out candy.” May declared, walking into the living room and tossing an unopened bag of snicker bars at him. 

He caught the bag with ease and threw it aside on the coffee table before turning his attention back to the book propped open in his other hand. 

“May, I’m just not into it this year okay?” Peter muttered back sensing his Aunt’s eyes still glaring down at him. She meant well, and she was worried about him, he knew that. It had been such a long week though and the desire to stay rooted in the couch was incredibly strong. Not as strong as Aunt May’s willpower, that much became apparent when another bag of candy came hurtling at his head again.

“Really May? Twizzlers? We’re a red vines family, you know that.” He complained while tossing the Twizzlers bag onto the floor to emphasize the dramatic nature of this betrayal. His Aunt snorted and he looked up to see a smile on her face. Her expression became stern now that she captured his gaze however.

“I know you dodged both Ned and MJ. Ned wanted to have a movie night and MJ invited you to a party. I also know you lied and told them both you were busy. Frankly they knew that was a lie too Peter. So why are you avoiding your friends?” She asked bluntly and Peter sighed deeply, shut his book, and propped himself up into a sitting position on the couch. 

“You know why.” He said softly, because it was true. They’d had this conversation time and time again for weeks now. 

“I know you’re struggling honey, but this used to be your favorite time of year.” She urged hopefully and he smiled at her sadly.

It had been his favorite time of year as a kid because it had been  _ Ben’s _ favorite time of year. Ben had always gone all out, spending absurd amounts of money on elaborate costumes and decorations. Ben’s enthusiasm for Halloween was infectious, it was practically beat into him to love halloween.

When Ben died, well it was hard for awhile, but he’d come back around. He remembered wearing the Spider-Man suit out that Tony had made him. Ned had dared him and they did some rounds of trick or treating in the damn thing. Tony caught wind, because it was  _ Tony _ , and god his mentor hadn’t let him forget about that embarrassing moment for weeks afterwards. 

Now they were in this new apartment, and all those boxes of Ben’s Halloween decorations were long lost in the five years in which both May and himself had been snapped out of existence. He was reeling from it all still. 

The doorbell rang before he could be sucked into the usual mental deep dive of depression he was so used to sinking into. May raised her eyebrow at him and he sighed, hopping onto his feet and taking the candy bowl for the bookshelf next to the door. 

“Happy Hallo-”

His sentence was cut short as he opened the door to reveal a group of kids waiting eagerly in their costumes. He forced a smile and stiffly held out the candy bowl to them, watching as all their small hands struggled to grab a piece at once. 

In the very center was a kid in an Iron Man costume. It was very well made admittedly, Uncle Ben would have been proud of it. A pit was opening in his stomach as he watched the kid in the costume triumphantly grab a piece of candy and turn to walk back to his mother. 

Suddenly he was back on the field, and Tony was on the ground half charred as he lay dying. There was a ringing in his ears and Aunt May was at his side with a firm hand on his shoulder, pulling him back inside as the kids retreated with awkward expressions on the faces that weren’t hidden behind masks.

“Happy Halloween!” May called out cheerily as she quickly closed the door behind her and turned to face him. Her face was horror struck and she looked incredibly guilty. He didn’t have the capacity to comfort her right now though, he was still taking in shallow breaths trying to steady himself.

“I’m sorry, I was just trying to… I was just trying to have some fun. I’m sorry.” She murmured desperately. He waved her off though while forcing a terribly fake smile to his face that he was positive came off more as a grimace. 

“I just don’t know what to do, Pete. It was so hard on all of us but then you had to  _ fight _ after. I know you saw things. I just… I just don’t know how to help.” She stammered on, clearly growing more upset. 

“I just need time.” He choked out as he attempted to ground himself in the way Tony had always taught him. 

He could see Aunt May, their books on the shelf, the vintage Star Wars poster above the couch, Aunt May’s favorite yellow sweater slung on the chair, and his worn down sneakers by the door. 

_ He could feel the sweat on his palms, the softness of his cotton tee, the shag rug under his feet, and Aunt May’s firm grip still placed on his shoulder. _

_ He could hear the TV, the fridge humming, and kids tramping down the hallway outside their door.  _

_ He could smell Aunt May’s perfume, and those horribly cliche TollHouse pumpkin cookies baking in the oven. They were burnt. _

_ Lastly, no matter how exaggerated as it was, he could taste the bitterness on his tongue. _

He was back now, in their apartment, and May was looking relieved as he finally met her eyes straight on. The doorbell rang and she bit her lip anxiously. 

“You get it okay, I’m fine… I’m just… tired.” He lied heading for his room. She didn’t stop him, although she looked incredibly crestfallen by the whole ordeal. As he gently shut his door he heard a chorus of ‘trick or treat!’ come from the living room. 

* * *

It was about forty five minutes later when a loud and commanding knocking sounded on his bedroom door. It was dark in his room and the blankets were thrown over his head as he tried to steady his body and mind. He wanted nothing more than to just ignore this new disturbance but the force behind the knocking gave him a strong inclination to who might be behind it.

His assumption was proven true when the door opened without waiting for an answer from him. Popping his head from under the covers he watched the visitor stroll into his room with their usual cocky nature in which they carried themselves with. It was both infuriating and one of the many things he loved about him.

“Mr. Stark.” Peter mumbled in greeting, emerging further from the safety of his blankets as Tony shut the door behind him after flicking the lamp on. 

Tony looked better than the last time Peter had seen him in the face. He had more color in his cheeks and it looked as if he gained a little bit of weight back. All that good though and he still couldn’t look away from the way the light glinted on the metal arm that Tony now bore as a testament to the final battle with Thanos. 

“Okay first of all, rude. I’m quite used to people staring, but come on kid you could at least make it a little less obvious.” Tony commented as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Peter shifted over slightly making more room for the man to sit.

He felt guilt well up in him immediately, so what if the arm was a little unsettling. Tony was alive. He was here now when he shouldn’t be. The arm was best case scenario. 

“You’re right, I’m really sor-” 

“No damn sorrys.” Tony cut across him with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. 

“Sorry.” Peter mumbled anyways and Tony smiled down at him now with a roll of his eyes. The fondness in which he looked at him with made Peter want to cry.

“Aunt May called you then? You didn’t have to come, you should be out trick or treating with Morgan.” Peter said sadly and Tony looked frustrated again.

“I did have to come. You’ve been dodging me. I brought Morgan with anyways, she’s currently raiding the Parker candy supply. Hope you staked your claim on your bit because you’re shit out of luck now.” Tony explained with a wave of his hand. Peter strained his hearing and heard Aunt May gushing over the little girl in the living room.

“That's… awesome. Aunt May loves her, she will be so happy.” Peter said softly.

“No. We’re not doing that right now. We’re going to talk about you.” Tony urged and Peter sat up on the bed his shoulder brushing against Tony’s as he ran a hand through his hair in stress.

“I’m having… an exceptionally hard time to be perfectly honest.” Peter admitted and Tony bobbed his head with a frown.

“PTSD. I was hoping it wouldn’t be that way for you, but frankly kid, you saw some shit in space and then you fucking lost five years. It’s understandable.” Tony confirmed and bitterness laced his tone now. 

“Yeah… that. But more so than anything I see you, I see you dying. All the time.” Peter confessed because it was worst truth. Everywhere he went he saw the damn Iron Man suit. It was graffitied all over New York, plastered on the news, the subway station was littered with magazines who's covers showcases the red and gold armor. 

When he saw that suit he went back to that day on the field. It all happened so fast for him and that moment was the focal point for his fucked up brain.

“I didn’t die though.” Tony pointed out gently but Peter was far beyond reason and frankly that just wasn’t true. 

“You  _ did _ though, they barely brought you back. Then you were in that coma and people allured that you did what you did because of  _ me.” _

“I did. Why does that have to be a bad thing though?” Tony admittedly freely and Peter was shocked the man would be so forthcoming about it. 

“Well… because, god the amount of guilt I carried around for those few days was… suffocating.” Peter admitted and Tony nodded glumly.

“I know kid… I carried that around for five years.” 

Peter was silent at that, the words were spoken so soft from Tony’s mouth and yet they held a resounding amount of force behind them. They dripped with empathy.

“So when I knew you were better. I thought maybe it was better that I just stayed away. After everything that happened with my Uncle… sometimes I just feel like a black fucking hole. Threatening to just destroy everything.” Peter admitted and Tony just grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He smelled like expensive cologne and motor oil. Peter found himself closing his eyes and relishing in the comfort instead of trying to fight it.

“You’re not a black hole Peter. You’re bright and everything that is good. So, if you need to stay away from me because that’s going to help you, sure. But I don’t really think that’s the case is it kid?” Tony said firmly and Peter shook his head.

“No… honestly, I’ve missed you a lot.” Peter admitted and Tony pulled away and held him at arm's length. Tony’s brown eyes searched his own, they were bright and full of love. Peter felt tears well in his own eyes despite his reserve and the man smiled at him.

“You’re coming out this weekend. You’re going to introduce Morgan to Star Wars and we’re going to tinker in my lab. Got it?” Tony said and although it was phrased like a question, it was clearly really more of a demand. 

“Yeah… I would like that.” Peter said and excitement brewed in his chest for the first time in what felt like forever. 

He knew the nightmares would still haunt him and things weren’t going to just get better. Somehow now though, it felt less suffocating. He’d hit the surface of the water, now he just needed to keep swimming. Tony would always keep him afloat though, he knew that much. 

Tony extended his good arm, and pulled him to his feet. He was then dragged into the living room where and extremely hyper Morgan awaited them. A sense of pride hit him as he noticed the bag of Twizzlers was still untouched. They were a Red Vines family damn it. 

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was originally a hell of a lot more angsty but it ended up being a lot of fluff too because I love Tony and I dont want to write in a fan fic world where my boi doesn't exist anymore.


End file.
